L'Arpeggiata, the French-based ensemble directed by Austrian-born harpist and lutenist Christina Pluhar, releases its second Virgin Classics album, following 'Teatro d'amore', a program of Monteverdi which blended instruments and voices, score and improvisation in a kind of sublime Baroque jam session. L'Arpeggiata has made a specialty of exploring and exploiting the close links between Baroque repertoire and the traditional music of the Latin world and its characteristic forms such as the tarantella, the folia or the canario. In this new collection, Via Crucis, "the way of the Cross", the focus is on the pervasive presence of religious feeling in Southern Europe.

"Here is another superb program put together by Christina Pluhar and performed by L'Arpeggiata. Joining them are countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, soprano Nuria Rial, and a group called Barbara Fortuna, made up of four Corsican men who sing in a distinctly earthy manner, with close harmonies and decorations unique to that island...a stunning selection of strings, plucked and otherwise (violins, gambas, harps, dulcimer, baroque guitar, lute, etc.), organ, and percussion - are varied and virtuosic...Furthermore, adding the darkly masculine sounds of Barbara Fortuna to the ethereal Jaroussky and Rial is a stroke of programming genius: the changes are always a welcome surprise. I was wild about their previous CD - Teatro d'Amore...and I recommend this one without reservation." - Classics Today (10/10)